Thank you for your interest in the video storytelling services we at Moving Stories Media offer nonprofits, schools, churches, foundations, etc. Whether your organization is celebrating a major milestone or you are determined to capture the stories that bring your mission statement to life, we can help. Moving Stories Media will work with you to identify the options that make the most sense for you, financially and otherwise. We can work with multiple materials, including:

fresh interviews we film;

important photos that you assemble and we, as necessary, scan and fix up;

old film footage of earlier events or milestones;

audiotaped interviews we conduct over the phone; and,

vital written documents.

In short, we’ll use whatever you think will convey your stories in the most compelling ways possible. And we will deliver the products you request, which could include:

a minimally edited film of fresh interviews;

a professional or even broadcast-quality documentary;

a photo book, with captions or a longer narrative; and,

a DVD or an external hard drive backing up everything we collect and produce.

The possibilities are many, and exciting.

So, what would a project like this cost your organization? Good question. It depends on the exact combination of options you choose. Check out the “Costs” and “Sample Packages” pages to get a generalized picture of expense categories and sample project costs.

Video shoots: A full-day (10-hour) video shoot (for shooting no more than two people at once): $1,800 (for shooting 3 or more people at once: $2,000); a half-day (5-hour) shoot: $1,350 (anything less than 5 hours is considered a half-day and billed at 75% of a full day; anything more than 5 hours is considered a full day).

Travel: For video shoots that take place outside the Twin Cities area, travel costs are $200 per day, plus gas (at the IRS rate, currently $0.555 per mile), food and lodging.

Post-production work: $80 per hour (including editing all fresh video; doing audio-only interviews over the phone, as needed; scanning and fixing photos; editing old films; pulling all that material together into a “rough cut” for you to review; and then, based on discussions with you, editing the “rough cut” into a polished documentary).

Equipment/supplies: $25-300, depending on the number of DVDs and/or external hard drives requested to archive materials.

Moving Stories Media assumes we’ll need 6-8 hours of post-production work for each hour of fresh interview we shoot (more than that for a broadcast, PBS-quality film).

The Basic

This would be a half-day video shoot and very basic editing for a 2-4-minute trailer-type video, which would land in the $2,500-$4,000 range.

The Short Film

This project would be designed to capture the shorter, 8-12-minute version of your organization’s story, incorporating a limited number of old photos or film clips—one either half- or full-day shoot, at a cost in the $5,000-$8,000 range.

What We’re All About

This package would include one-to-two full days of filming and result in several short-but-cohesive films, featuring 3-4 people important to your organization and some old photos and a few film clips—all for $9,000-$12,000.

The Gold Standard

This package would capture the in-depth story of your organization, with filmed interviews of multiple key people at various locations, resulting in a 30-45-minute broadcast-quality, PBS-like documentary film—which might require two or more full days of filming, some travel, and unlimited photos and film clips—as well as a ton of extra content for your website that includes hours of outtakes from the video shoots and hundreds of photos and old film clips. All this would cost $15,000 or more.

This information gives you some insight into the possibilities and prices for work with Moving Stories Media. But to figure out what’s right for you, the best step is for us to meet and talk, which we do at no charge. Together we’ll develop a plan that suits your goals and budget.

We believe every organization’s story is special, and we want to make sure that you can preserve for current and future generations the people and stories and moments most vital to your organization.